Rodeo and western events, both in practice and in competition require the participation of livestock. Many of these events start with an animal being positioned within a livestock chute enclosure. This requires getting the animal's head and body positioned appropriately near a front of the chute enclosure (facing forward with its head up), which can be difficult and time consuming. For example, upon entering the chute enclosure, the animal may immediately begin moving its head and body out of position. This can cause a delay in the event as the animal must be in the proper position prior to commencing the activity. Furthermore, such a delay may cause problems such as anxiety and nervousness to the animal, contestant(s)/participant(s), and/or other animals being utilized during the event, such as horse(s) of the participant(s). Any such problem may directly impact the competition and thus have significant competitive and/or monetary implications.
Additionally, when first training an animal in preparation for a competition the animals first interaction with the chute enclosure may form lasting, sometimes unbreakable, habits. Thus, any time the animal's first reaction is to move its head or body out of position, the result may be that the animal is never in the proper position upon entering a chute enclosure for any subsequent practice or competition.